Day 20 - Believe It or Not This Is Really Fun!

What do I mean by the title today.  Well, this is my 20th day on my Fresh Start Journey juice detox/diet.  My last blog was on Saturday.  Sunday and Monday I was totally busy but kept to my diet.  I juiced only in the morning by having apple juice and apple/orange juice.  Even though I did not blog and did not juice the rest of the day, I made sure that if I reached for anything I wanted to eat, I would have vegetables already made up to snack.  Sunday after church, we went out to eat and I had a vegetable platter.  I kept off the egg and jack cheese..yummy!!..but my stomach and my acid reflex would not have liked it much and neither would my diet.

I lost 1 lbs so in total I lost 17 lbs in 20 days.  I am finding out that the weight comes off slower when you eat solid foods than when you juice.  Today I started off with a green apple juice and made this delicious vegetable juice for lunch and dinner.    

Tomato Lettuce Cucumber Detox Juicer Recipe

3 large, ripe tomatoes

6 leaves leafy lettuce (I prefer romaine or kale)

Cucumber (about a 2-inch piece)

Handful of fresh cilantro or parsley

Small wedge of lemon or lime

Juice all ingredients

This combination of vegetables and fruits is so very delicious with just a twist of lemon added.

Cucumber is a fruit that came from the same family as pumpkin, zucchini and other squashes. It has a dark green rind and white succulent flesh. There are 2 types of cucumbers the pickling varieties and the slicing varieties. The pickling variety is relatively small (2 - 4 inches long).

Health benefits of Cucumber

• 
  Very low in calories; provides just 15 calories per 100 g. Contains no saturated fats or cholesterol. Cucumber peel is a good source of dietary fiber that helps reduce constipation and offers some protection against colon cancers.
• It is a very good source of potassium, an important intra-cellular electrolyte. Potassium is a heart friendly electrolyte; helps reduce blood pressure and heart rates by countering effects of sodium.
• It contains unique anti-oxidants in good ratios such as ß-carotene and a-carotene, vitamin-C, vitamin-A, zea-xanthin and lutein. These compounds help act as protective scavengers against oxygen-derived free radicals and reactive oxygen species (ROS) that play a role in aging and various disease process.
• Cucumbers have mild diuretic property probably due to their high water content, which helps in checking weight gain and high blood pressure.
• Cucumbers surprisingly have high amount of vitamin K, provides about 17 mcg of this vitamin per 100 g. Vitamin-K has been found to have potential role in bone strength by promoting osteotrophic (bone mass building) activity. It also has established role in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease patients by limiting neuronal damage in their brain.
  
  Thanks for stopping by to read my blog.  Have a blessed day!!